As use of the Internet and/or other networks has increased, so has the complexity of navigating through information and/or other networks using a web browser. For example, in some e-commerce applications, a user may navigate through multiple web pages, fill out multiple forms and/or answer multiple questions in order to navigate to information of interest to the user. One such example may be the configuration of a computer for purchase by the user. In order for the user to determine the price of the computer, the user may need to answer questions or otherwise select options as part of the configuration of the computer. For example, the user may need to configure the memory, storage requirements, connectivity features, warranty packages and/or other accessories for use with the computer. Such configuration may involve answering multiple questions and/or filling out multiple forms before the price of the configured computer is provided to the browser of the user. Furthermore, the navigation path, e.g., the answers to specific questions provided to the user, may determine what information is next provided to a user and, therefore, may be controlling in whether the user ultimately is provided the information that they desire.
Furthermore, as the amount of information available through web pages, for example, on the Internet or on an Intranet or Extranet, has increased, the ability to locate specific items of interest to a user may have become more difficult. Thus, for example, in locating an item a user may have to navigate through multiple pages. In fact, it is possible that the only mechanism provided for accessing the information may be through the navigation of the pages such that the information may not be directly accessible to the user by, for example, directly entering a Universal Resource Locater (URL) into the user's web browser.
In conventional systems, when a user establishes a session with a server through a web browser, the server may establish a context for that session of the web browser. The context may contain information about the web browser session. For example, the context may contain security information, often referred to as the security context of the session. The context may also contain other information, such as the navigation path or history of the web browser's interaction with the server. Thus, the context may specify what information is to be provided to the browser. For example, the context may contain the answers to questions provided by the user through the web browser or other selection made by the user through the web browser. Thus, changes in the browser's context at a server may change the information provided to the browser.
One difficulty that may arise as a result of the complexity of locating information on the Internet, extranets and/or intranets relates to helping user's locate information that they have, typically, failed to find on their own. In such cases, a user may, for example, call a help desk or sales consultant for assistance in locating the information. Typically, the consultant tries to replicate the step-by-step navigation that the user would have to go through to locate the information using the consultant's browser and then relays this information to the user, for example, over the telephone or through e-mail. However, such an approach may be error prone and/or time consuming. The approach may be error prone in that the user, typically, must duplicate the steps provided by the consultant exactly or the desired information will not be located. The approach may be time consuming because, if the user makes a mistake, the process may have to be started over from the beginning. Also, the consultant may need to wait for the user at each step to assure that the user has correctly entered the information provided by the consultant before moving to the next step.
For example, in an online shopping environment, consumers may have difficulty finding specific goods or services at an Internet website. The consumer may contact a merchant sales consultant by phone to receive assistance finding the goods or services on the website as an initial step in placing an order. The sales consultant, typically, provides the consumer with a series of search instructions that eventually lead to the web page providing the information. This may be time consuming and frustrating for the consumer, which can have a negative impact on sales.
Alternatively, sharing of screen images over the Internet could be used to provide the information to the consumer. However, this generally only presents a screen snapshot as opposed to navigating the user to the web page containing the information, where the web page may have additional navigating capabilities. Alternatively, remote control of the consumer system by the sales consultant could also be provided, however, router/firewalls and other security measures may limit such a solution.